Re: Why Didn't the US Win In Korea?

["swan" <swan@haysco.net>]

Now, had the US and UN forces accomplished a firm northern line at the Yalu
and enforced it, would that have been a "win"?


   Yep, Marc, I think it would have been a win that way. Things would have
been a little sticky in Korea, had the North Korean government surrendered
to us, and had we driven out the Chinese.
   When the Germans and Japanese surrendered to us, they surrendered all of
Germany and all of Japan to the allies. We made pretty much of a mess with
Germany but we were very successful in Japan. Had we won in Korea, we would
have had to establish a government that was satisfactory to people both in
the north and the south. That would have been tricky, since we had tacitly
approved the government of the South.

Bob Dove

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marc James Small" <msmall@infi.net>
To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu>; <KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 6:58 PM
Subject: Why Didn't the US Win In Korea?


> At 06:30 PM 9/23/02 -0400, Joe Brennan wrote:
> >It was said it was a "political" decision to settle for a half loaf in
> >Korea. True but also an unavoidable decision w/o nuclear war IMO.
>
> The settlement of any and all wars is always political, by definition, and
> not military.
>
> Had the UN determined prior to CHROMITE to push to the Yalu and had so
told
> the Soviets and firmly, and had then been prepared to invest a LOT of
> airpower in dumping napalm on the river to fry the incoming, yes, the war
> certainly could have had a different outcome, and one without the use of
> nuclear ironmongery.
>
> But, then, no one in Washington listened to what FEC and X Corps and 8th
> Army was saying.  They turned this over to the politicals for resolution
> and, in the end, after weeks of worry, they gave what are arguably the
most
> elastic of orders ever given a military force.
>
> Blame the SecDef, Marshall, as he is, arguably, the most marked with this
> shame.  Blame Truman, the President, as he backed every call Marshall
made.
>  Blame Bradley, the Chairman of the JCS, as he never had an original
> thought in his life and certainly did not begin to think during this time.
> Blame the Chief of Staff of the Army, "Lightning Joe" Collins, for trying
> to live up to his reputation by reversing himself every twelve or eighteen
> hours.
>
> In the end, the Korean War could have been "won", had the US had the
> determination to do so.  But Truman, Marshall, Bradley, Collins, et al.,
> did not have that determination.  Cf Kerensky and the Duma and the Russian
> Revolution.  Those who want intelligently and ably, get.  We had the
> capacity, but Washington chose not to use it.
>
> Now, had the US and UN forces accomplished a firm northern line at the
Yalu
> and enforced it, would that have been a "win"?
>
> Marc
>
> msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
> Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!
>


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